COVID-19: Azithromycin no more effective than placebo in treatment, says a recent study

Azithromycin, a commonly prescribed drug for the treatment of COVID-19, is no more effective than placebo, reported a study. Alternatively, the study also claimed that the drug has contributed to an increase in the chances of hospitalisation when induced to infected patients. The research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

263 participants, who participated in the study, tested positive for COVID-19

According to the study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, a total of 263 positive patients participated. All the participants tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 within seven days before enrolling for the study, the journal informed. The study also reported that none of the patients was hospitalised during or before enlisting for the study.

"Among outpatients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, treatment with a single dose of oral azithromycin compared with placebo did not result in a greater likelihood of being free of symptoms at day 14," the authors wrote in the study.

The researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Stanford University randomly selected 171 candidates and induced 1.2 gm of Azithromycin in the form of an oral dose. On the other hand, a sum of 92 participants received an identical placebo. As a result, as many as 50 percent of the participants remained symptom-free until the 14th day. Nevertheless, on the 21st day, 5 out of the 171 candidates had to be hospitalised with severe symptoms of COVID-19.

The treatment with a single Azithromycin dose, when compared to its identical counterpart, produced no better result than a placebo. "These findings do not support the routine use of azithromycin for the outpatients of SARS-CoV-2 infection," said the lead author of the study, Catherine E. Oldenburg, an assistant professor at UCSF. Even though the hypothesis suggested that an oral dose of Azithromycin contained anti-inflammatory properties to prevent the progression of the COVID-19 disease, the study published in the journal informed otherwise, Oldenburg concluded. 

The use of Azithromycin should be curtailed if found ineffective

Azithromycin was earlier considered to contain anti-viral properties actively effective against the SARS-COV-2 variant, commonly known as COVID-19 or Coronavirus. The anti-inflammatory properties, when administered in the system, were expected to reduce cytokine levels that may help prevent progression to tissue damage and severe COVID-19, the study reported. However, the study also reported that in case the drug is found ineffective, its use should be curtailed to prevent the selection for macrolide resistance.

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